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Salt Chlorinators

 

Why?

Use of a Salt Chlorinator is the easiest, safest and most cost effective method to ensure you pool is properly chlorinated. Correctly sanitised water and effective filtration is central to the health of your pool water and is therefore an important purchase. Salt Chlorination removes the daily requirement for manual chlorine addition and all the associated storage and handling dangers. Chlorine as a water sanitiser is still the most trusted method for both swimming pools and drinking water suppliers around the world. 

 

How they work

Mild salt water is gentle on eyes and skin and is said to benefit asthma sufferers and those people who find conventional chlorinated pools irritating. The salinity of seawater is approx. 35,000ppm or 3.5%, while chlorinators require only 2,500 to 6,000ppm, depending on the model. The human body has a salinity of approx. 4500ppm and fresh water is zero. It is the similarity between the salinity of the human body and that of a salt pool that make for a silky luxurious swimming experience. 

The chlorinator comprises two basic components, the power supply and cell. It is within the cell that the electrolytic reactions occur. Chloride ions in the water are converted into chlorine gas, this dissolves immediately into the water to ultimately form sodium hypochlorite, (liquid chlorine). The chlorine oxidizes bacteria, algae and other harmful matter in the pool water and through this process reverts back into available ions. The chlorinator cell is installed after all other receptacles in filtration circuit. The filtration pump operates simultaneously with the chlorinator and delivers water flow through the cell where the chlorine is produced. 

The major by-product of the reaction in the cell is the liberation of Hydrogen gas at the cathode. This explains the small bubbles often seen passing out of the pool returns. No salt is lost through this process or as a result of evaporation. The necessity to top up the salt level is because of dilution through events such as backwashing and splashing out etc.

 

How to Choose

Choosing the correct Salt Chlorinator is very important given the necessity to ensure satisfactory sanitation of the pool water. There is a large variety of quality and prices applicable to this product category and these must be carefully considered. In terms of sizing however, it is the chlorine gas output per hour that is the single most important criteria to consider. Always ensure you know the Chlorine gas grams per hour (g/hr Cl Gas) output of units you are comparing to ensure you are comparing apples with apples. The biggest mistake you can make is to undersize the unit. Undersized units deliver a chlorine output that does not meet the swimming season’s average requirement. This scenario requires the home owner to manually treat the pool on a regular basis in addition to using the Salt Chlorinator. A correctly sized unit will have enough capacity to handle the expected bather load during the peak swimming season. That being said, it is not uncommon to manually shock dose the pool chlorine periodically through the peak season to remove high chlorine demand.

Always consult with the manufacturers recommendations when sizing.

The chart below is a quick look guide to sizing a Salt Chlorinator for a domestic pool. High bather load or commercial pools will require additional sizing calculations.

 

Pool Volume                                     Minimum Output g/hr Cl Gas

Less than 30,000lts                                              15g/hr Cl Gas

Less than 60,000lts                                              25g/hr Cl Gas

Less than 90,000lts                                              35g/hr Cl Gas

Less than 120,000lts                                            50g/hr Cl Gas      

 

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